- Platyrinchus mystaceus
Identification
9–10 cm (3½-4 in); large eyes, very short tail, variable
- Long yellowish supercilium
- Black ear-coverts
- Yellow eyering
- Black stripe down each side of the neck
- Concealed yellow crest which is erected in display
- Olive-brown upperparts
- Buff underparts
- White throat
- Bill: broad and flat
- black upper mandible
- brown lower mandible
Sexes are similar; female has a smaller crown patch
Young birds are brighter and redder above and lack the crown patch, grey throat and breast shading to a whitish belly. Quite strong geographic variation.
Distribution
Central and South America:
Central America: found in Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Trinidad, Tobago
South America: Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina
Taxonomy
Subspecies
There are 14 subspecies[1]:
- P. m. neglectus: East Costa Rica to eastern Colombia and extreme north-western Venezuela
- P. m. perijanus: Subtropical Sierra de Perijá (Colombia/Venezuela border)
- P. m. albogularis: Colombia (Western Andes and Cauca Valley) to western Ecuador
- P. m. zamorae: Andes of eastern Ecuador and and central Peru (south at least to Junín)
- P. m. partridgei: east slope of the Andes of southeastern Peru (north at least to Cuzco) and Bolivia (south to western Santa Cruz)
- P. m. insularis: North Venezuela; Trinidad and Tobago
- P. m. imatacae: South Venezuela (Sierra de Imataca in Bolívar)
- P. m. ventralis: South Venezuela (Cerro de la Neblina) and adjacent Brazil
- P. m. duidae: Tepuis of south-eastern Venezuela and adjacent northern Brazil
- P. m. ptaritepui: Tepuis of south-eastern Venezuela (south-eastern Bolívar)
- P. m. mystaceus: South East Brazil to eastern Paraguay and north-eastern Argentina
- P. m. bifasciatus: South Brazil (central Mato Grosso to central Goiás)
- P. m. cancromus: East Brazil (Maranhão to Ceará, northern Bahia and eastern Paraná)
- P. m. niveigularis: Coastal north-eastern Brazil (Paraíba to Alagoas)
Habitat
The are found in the undergrowth of variety of habitat types, which includes humid lowland and montane forests.
Behaviour
Diet
Their main diet consists of arthropods, including beetles and ants.
Breeding
They build a deep cup nest from dead grass and plant fibres. The clutch consists of 2 yellow-tinged white eggs with rufous markings.
In Culture
The local Brazillian name is "Patinho", which confusingly translates as "duckling" in English.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, S. M. Billerman, T. A. Fredericks, J. A. Gerbracht, D. Lepage, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2021. The eBird/Clements checklist of Birds of the World: v2021. Downloaded from https://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Avibase
- Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive (retrieved Oct 2017)
- Wikipedia
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-throated Spadebill. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 1 June 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-throated_Spadebill
